Mclaren boss Ron Dennis said yesterday he had decided to stay at the helm of the Formula One team, ending media speculation that he was about to stand down.

A team spokesman said the 60-year-old Briton addressed employees at the Mercedes-powered team's woking factory before catching a flight to Melbourne for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Race fans watch a BMW Formula One car being fired up in front of Melbourne's landmark Flinders station at a F1 warm-up party in Melbourne yesterday. The Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2008 season, takes place on Sunday.

Dennis has already handed over much of the day-to-day running of the team to Chief Executive Martin Whitmarsh and has talked in the past about his desire to stand back.

Media reports in Britain this month suggested that Dennis, who owns 15 percent of the team and took control of McLaren in 1980, was thinking of quitting either before the start of the season or shortly after.

Despite winning eight of the 17 races, McLaren had a nightmare 2007 season in which it was fined a record US$100 million and stripped of all its constructors' points for a spy saga involving leaked Ferrari data.

Dennis was also recently questioned by an Italian magistrate investigating that controversy.

McLaren has won 132 races, seven constructors' championships and nine drivers' crowns since Dennis took charge of the team. Its last was with Finland's Mika Hakkinen in 1999.

Elsewhere, struggling Super Aguri confirmed Japan's Takuma Sato and Briton Anthony Davidson as its 2008 drivers yesterday after agreeing to a takeover of the team.

"We have reached agreement with Magma Group regarding the acquisition of the Super Aguri F1 team," the Honda-backed team said in a statement.

"Magma has also reached agreement with Honda Motor Co. Ltd. regarding technical cooperation and engine supply to Super Aguri.

"It is expected the acquisition process will be completed over the next few weeks."

No financial details were given.

The team said Sato and Davidson, who raced for Super Aguri last year, would continue as the driving line-up.

Magma Group is run by Martin Leach, a former president of Ford Europe as well as ex-chief executive of Maserati and ex-managing director of Mazda Japan.

The company's Ultramotive division is based at the Leafield facility in central England used by Super Aguri and now-defunct Arrows before it.

Aguri founder Aguri Suzuki, a former grand prix driver, said in the statement he looked forward to working closely with Magma.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily March 12, 2008)